Guardians
by Spirit-Girl-Misaki
Summary: After a failed suicide attempt, Chihiro awakes to discover she has a very important new purpose in life. With new and old friends to guide her and new enemies will she ever be able to find true peace and love with the only man she ever truly cared about?
1. Prologue

_Dear anyone who actually cares,_

_Goodbye evil, cruel, unforgiving world. Goodbye good for nothing parents who won't believe anything their daughter says. Goodbye Grandfather that I never knew existed. Sorry that you'll be the one who'll have to clean up the mess I leave behind. Goodbye odd place, hidden away in the mountains. Goodbye sunny and rainy skies, goodbye seasons, snow, rain, hail. I'll never have to deal with you ever again. Goodbye any friend I ever had, yea like I actually had friends. I was just the crazy girl, talking of things people couldn't believe and on so many meds that I shoulda been dead from overdose. Ahhh. There…...I've done it……soo much red….fast…..dizzy….goodby……………_

* * *

Wait a minute…….where the heck am I? Ok, Ok, calm down and think for a minute. Get the facts straight and all. First, who am I. Ogino Chihiro, that's right. Born on March 15th in the middle of the worst storm of the season. When I was ten, we moved and I wandered into a place that was and is inhuman. The Spirit World. There I met Rin, Kamaji, Yubaba, Zeniba , Bou, and Noh Face. And Haku. The Spirit of the river that I fell into when I was 4 and reaching for my new shoe. He saved me then and when I was in the Spirit World. We came home and no one believe my story and the drugged me for 6 years and then sent me to a Grandfather I had never met who lived in a hotel on a lake. It was there that I committed suicide by slicing my wrists. And until now, I was absolutely sure that I had succeeded.

"When she gonna wake up, Toshi-chan?" a voice nearby whined out.

I jumped in my mind but not in body. Huh. That's something I hadn't noticed. I cant move at all. Not a finger or toe.

_WHAP!!!_

"For the last time, girk, my name is not Toshi-chan, Toto-cahn, Shihi-kun, or anything ele that your deranged mind is able to come up with. My name is Toshiro, but to you I am Toshiro –san or –sama. Understood?" a male voice replied to the whiny female one.

"Yeah, yeah, I got it. Well, when is she???" the female whined out. "And don't hit me wit' yer fan agin!!" she took up a rough way of speaking. Apparently this Toshiro was threatening her.

"And for the 11th time, I do not know!! I was not expecting for her to wake anytime soon, especially with what she has gone through!" Toshiro snapped back. Apparently the girl had been asking this a lot.

"Well, I'm sorry but de Ol' Man told us to watch out for her when she finally woke up. And how do you think I felt?! Ohm de one who found 'er on de shore!!"

Okay, Chihiro thought. From what I've heard, I've been asleep, somewhere for a while and some old man told two other strangers to look out for me. Great, just great. I went from insane, to dead, and back to life just to handed to strangers!!!

"Quiet, both of you!!! You have made her more confused than she already was! Stop arguing for a moment!" another voice rang out, this one somewhat feminine but also masculine and soft-spoken.

All sound left the room immediately. A cool but not cold hand lightly touched her forehead. "Chihiro-san, are you awake? Can you hear me?" Toshiro softly spoke.

"Of course she can, ninny!! Shorty just said that!!" and there was the unnamed female voice.

Light footstep and then the rustling of cloth came from her right. "Toshiro, Misaki, I believe I told you to be quiet. You are going to frighten her even more."

Misaki and Toshiro. The names and the people taking care of her apparently.

"Chihiro, please focus on my voice. I'm going to help you regain your ability to move and speak, alright? Now, this may feel and bit strange, but do not be alarmed. I shall never bring harm to you."

Chihiro started when a warmth suddenly hit her limbs. It didn't hurt….it just felt all tingly and such. Like dead limbs that got blood flow back when you woke up.

"Hey! Her hand twitched!" came the hushed voice of Misaki.

It did? Chihiro hadn't felt it at all. Soon, the warmth disappeared.

"Now, try moving."

And she did just that. First, her feet. Yup, they worked fine. So did her hands and arms and everything else.

"Oi! If she able to move now, why 'asn't she opened 'er eyes or talked?" Misaki seemed to be able to say just what Chihiro was scared to do.

She scrunched up her eyelids and slowly opened them just to have to close them in pain. So bright!!! Once the spots on her eyelids disappeared, she tried again. Ok, it wasn't as bright this time. Soon, the off white ceiling came into focus. After a minute, she turned her head to the left and just stared for a bit at the people she saw there.

Firstly the female. Misaki. She was wearing a simple blue-ish tunic that was tied by a string under her very blessed bust. The loose shorts she wore seemed black but seemed to sparkle into many different shades as she shifted. Her skin was slighted tanned and flawless. Her hair was a messy boyish cut that work for her and was deep red with black tips. But that was what pulled you in until you are unconsciously staring. It was her eyes!!! Her eyes looked like they had been taken from a cat!! Slit and shaped exactly the same as a cats but the color wasn't. her eyes were such a deep blue you would think you were looking into a ocean. You could get lost there.

Next to her was a man. Toshiro. He was wearing green hakama and a white underkimono with a haori overtop of them. The haori itself was stunning. It faded from red at the top trough all known and unknown colors into black at the bottom but there was no discord found there, the colors blended perfectly with one another. His hair, oddly enough, was a dark blonde but not dark enough to be dirty blond. His eyes were stormy grey. In his hand, a simple fan was clutched. But the man himself just exuded this aura that screamed: Look at me, I'm different!! I'm otherworldly!!

She turned her head to find the other voice she had heard. Sitting right by her was a boy. Just a child. He wore a black kimono that had a pattern of koi fish swimming down on it. His hair was an off shade of brown. But there was one thing about him. His eyes were pure white. This boy was blind!!!

He smiled at her. "Welcome back to the world, Chihiro. Are you feeling alright?" He tilted his head cutely to the side. "Can we do anything for you? Get anything? Ask us anything, I'm sure that you have questions for us."

She carefully pushed herself up into a semi-sitting position. Toshiro quickly put his arm behind her as Misaki placed a pillow so she could comfortably lean back onto the headboard. Chihiro turned to look at the nameless boy once again and opened her mouth slowly.

"Ok, then."

He looked relieved that she had found her voice at last. "Yes?"

"First, off, where am I, secondly, who are you all, and thirdly, why the hell am I still alive?"


	2. Chapter 1

All air temporarily seemed to leave the room. The Boy, Toshiro, and Misaki all seemed to become statues, cold and unmoving. The Boy was the first one to come back to them while a small smile. "I believe that your confusion is understandable. I shall explain as best as I can. But first. Close your eyes and expand your mind. Tell me what you can feel."

Chihiro was confused and a little ticked that her questions were being temporarily ignored but she did as he asked. Her eyes slid closed and breath deep in and out. She could feel the others in the room but in the back of her head was a nagging pull. Her face pulled into a flight frown and Chihiro quickly expanded everything she was sensing. Soon, she came close to what was pulling on her and her mind exploded into color. Chihiro blinked and found she was floating in a sea of colors. There were blues, red, greens, yellows, and all colors blended into what would be a cave of crystal. These colors only could have been made from a pure crystal, that's for sure. That was when she heard it.

_Chihiro, Chihiro, Chihiro, Chihiro._

The echo of her name bounced all around her, leaving her unable to find where it was truly coming from. She spun around and around, not knowing how she was even able to do that. "Who are you?!" she screamed. "Where are you?!" A gentle laugh echoed throughout the area.

_We are you!!_

As those words came to her, the cave or sea or whatever it was exploded into bright light. As she became more able to sense her surroundings again, the vast amounts of energy that were where she was hit her. She couldn't say it was a sea of energy either, it was more like an endless sky of it!!! _What is this?_ Chihiro weakly thought, unable to find her voice. The laugh returned.

_This is all ours!!! Our magic!!!_

Her eyes flew open in the room that she was in and Toshiro quickly supported her as she began to fall. She spun to the boy with wide eyes and tried to form words but none came.

He sighed with a sad smile. "I know that it's frightening Chihiro. But try to stay calm and breath. That's it. Now, have you found you voice again?"

"W-who are you?" she managed to stammer out.

This time, the sound came from Misaki, who had fallen to the floor in laughter. Toshiro glared at her. "Compose yourself!!!" he snapped.

"I'm sorry but that is amazing!!!! She experiences all that and she wants to kno who de brat is!!!" she managed to get out as she gulped for air.

Boy cleared hi throat and Misaki composed herself. "That, I did not expect as your first question. But I said I will answer and I shall. I know that you heard that the girl is Misaki and the man is Toshiro. And I am Gin. And you are still at your grandfather's hotel. Actually, now it rightfully is yours, actually."

Chihiro blinked and leaned back into the pillows. She was becoming really tired. "What do you mean? I barely even knew my grandfather. And what the heck was that consciousness? And that power?"

Gin smirked a bit. "And now we get to the interesting questions. To put it simply, that other consciousness is you. And all that power is yours." At her blank look he sighed. "Chihiro, you asked why you were alive earlier. Well, your Grandfather saved you. He did that by making you his heir and transferring everything to you. By doing that, he saved your life and gave you a new one."

"What?"

"Chihiro……he transformed you into a Spirit."

_ "Gin, I want you to explain everything when she finally awakens again."_

_ Gin nodded. "I will. I promise."_

_ "Good. Now, make sure to answer all her questions and to teach her everything she needs to know. She may have visited the World before but that does not mean that she understands everything. Make sure of it. Now go. I don't want you to have to witness this part."_

"Wh-wh-WHAT?!?!!?!?!?!?!?" Chihiro screamed. It was too much, too much!!!

"I'm sorry if I'm not making sense. This is hard I you, I know, but I am not done yet. Your Grandfather stumbled upon this place when he was much younger. The house's owner found him very sick by the lake and nursed him back to heath. He lived here for a while before we were introduced to him. That was when Owner explained everything to him. This house sits on the border between the Spirit World and the Human World. Owner was the Guardian of the Barrier, making sure no demons or evil Spirits came to destroy it or try to get into the Human World. But Owner was tired. He had been the Guardian for many Hundred Years. He had originally been human and was also changed to Spirit to become Guardian. He chose your grandfather as the one to become the next Guardian. And as such, your grandfather chose you to succeed him. In doing so, he saved your life by giving up all his magics and his life force to transform you into a Spirit. And now, you are the Guardian of the Barrier. That consciousness you feel is a large crystal formation in the middle of this lake. That is the anchor for this part of the barrier. It is also yourself, in a sense. Both you and the crystal are as one." Gin ended his speech with a head nod. "I promised I would take care of you and that I shall, mistress."

Chihiro was the one frozen now. Grandfather, Spirit, Guardian, Her, Spirit, Crystal, magic…………………….her head was spinning.

"Eh, kid, I think she's gonna pass out or something. Do something!" Misaki sounded really far away………

Everything spun for a minute and then a warmth filled her again and the spinning went away and Chihiro could see normally again. She blinked a bit. "Thanks, Gin."

Gin nodded. "Now that you have awakened, we will teach you how to take your rightful place. And you also need to choose a form."

The confusion came back. "Wait, awakened? Form?"

Gin flinched a bit. "I guess I did leave that part out. Chihiro, you were asleep inside of the Crystal for 1000 years. And as for your form, it can be any animal or creature you choose to be." But at that point Chihiro wasn't listening anymore. She was hyperventilating now. "Chihiro, calm down, deep breaths, there you go."

"Mu-my family….?" She trailed off, afraid to say anymore.

Misaki's arms wrapped around her neck. "I'm sorry, hun. No human family would've survived this long. But there is a very small possibility that your parents had another child and that child had children and so on and so on. Somewhere out there, you have relatives, but right here, you've got family."

Toshiro smirked. "Amazing. I did not think that you would be able to say anything eloquently at all. Keep that up and I may very well have to change my opinion about you."

"Oi!!! I can be eliquint when I wants ta be!" Misaki snapped back before flushing red. And she had blown it. She slowly turned to apologize to Chihiro but the girl's eyes had slid closed as an exhausted sleep had finally pulled her under. Misaki carefully moved the girl into a laying position and tucked her in. "Sleep well sister. We have much to talk about still." Misaki whispered before she went out the door to the porch overlooking the lake and jumped off. Not even a ripple was created. Toshiro walked towards the inside of the house but as he did, he slowly faded into nothing. Gin smiled and curled up next to Chihiro and quickly fell asleep as the house fell into silence once more.

_"Chihiro? Honey, its time to go to you Grandfather's place." Yuuko Ogino walked itno her daughter's room to find her bag empty and her daughter glaring at her. "CHIHIRO!!! You were supposed to be packed an hour ago!!! I set all your clothes out for you and everything!!" her mother shrieked at her._

_ "Yeah, well, I'm not going." Chihiro mumbled as she brought her knees to her chest and buried her head in them. _

_ Her mother raged at her as she grabbed clothes and quickly stuffed them into the bag for Chihiro. "I can't believe you would do this! Your grandfather is very excited to meet you and then you are acting like a spoiled little brat about this!"_

_ Chihiro kicked her bag off the bed and stood, glaring at her mother. Rage like this was become normal for her. "How dare you call me that?!" she screamed. "After all you have done to me, how dare you!!!"_

_ "ALL I DID FOR YOU WAS IN LOVE!!! CHIHIRO I DID EVERYTHING FOR YOU!!!" her mother yelled as Chihiro fled the room. Akio caught her and put her in the car and soon they were off. Then they were at her Grandfather's hotel. "Dear, we love you. I hope that having a rest up here will clear your mind of all these things that you talk of. Have fun, love." Her mother was laying it on thick._

_ Chihiro was silent until just after she was past her mother. "I hate you. Both of you." She muttered before going inside. Three days later…………_

Chihiro sat up on the bed with a gasp, tears streaking down her face. Why did that have to be the memory that she dreamed of? Of the last thing that she had ever said to her parents? She wouldn't even get a chance to take it back now!!! The tears had come back anew.

She quickly composed herself again and noticed that she had a bedmate. Little Gin was curled up on his side next to her. Oh, he looked so cute, his light brown hair mussed up and his mouth slightly open. Chihiro carefully reached over and brushed his bangs out of his eyes. He mumbled something and turned towards her body heat. Her motherly instincts came forward and she carefully tucked him under her abandoned covers. After that, Chihiro quietly went outside into the early morning air. She hadn't had a chance to see outside yesterday and in the early morning most everything was covered in fog anyway.

But what she could see was that the deck she was now on was built over a lake. And somewhere in that lake was the thing, the crystal, that was calling out to her. She leaned forward onto the railing, closed her eyes, and focused. Again that vast-ness filled her mind and called to her, pulling her towards in, telling her to come……

She would've fallen head first into the water if two pairs of hands and arms hadn't found their way around her middle.

Chihiro gasped as she came back to herself. Around here were the arms of Misaki and Toshiro. Her head was spinning again. "Mi-Misaki-san. Toshiro-san." She managed to stutter out.

Misaki reached over and flicked her in the nose! "Hey, none of that. I haven't gone by Misaki in a long while, 'cept for Toshiro 'ere who is all prim and proper. Call me Misa instead, kay?" Chihiro was beginning to like this girl's ways. She just seemed to be able to make everyone, with the exception of Toshiro, smile.

Toshiro also had something to say, but at least he kept his hands around her in support. "Just Toshiro is fine, Ogino-san. Or am I allowed to call you Chihiro?"

"Chihiro is fine." Her voice wasn't shaking as much anymore. "Thanks for catching me. This, this is all so confusing." She admitted, more to herself than to them. Misa's arms found their way around Chihiro's middle and they just stood there, Misa hugging her, Toshiro lightly holding her arms, and Chihiro, just staring out across the misty lake. At some point, Gin joined them and ended up in Chihiro's arms. That was when Chihiro knew.

_I need to be here. This is my place now. They need me. Little Gin, rough Misa, and even the prim and proper Toshiro need me to be here. And I'm not gonna let them down!_


End file.
